1-Day, New Hampshire. Proven Skills & Techniques For Surviving Harsh Environments

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Winter is an unforgiving time in the north woods. Gone are the warm temperatures of summer that provide a safety-buffer for all you do. The result is to magnify mistakes and poor choices, turning what would be a minor inconvenience in warm weather into a life-threatening situation in the cold.

The principles of cold weather survival should be learned before any trip into the cold, as should the related skills. But despite a vast swath of literature devoted to “survival”, there is very little knowledge commonly held on the topic, and much that does pass for common sense is incorrect.

For example, many people have heard that when lost in the winter woods they should dig a snow cave in which to spend the night. In certain conditions this is a useful thing to know, but most of the time it is a recipe for disaster; the result of incomplete knowledge being glossed over and passed on without understanding the principles at work. Such well-meaning advice is often given from those who haven’t spent any nights out in the winter woods without a tent or sleeping bag, making their untested theories questionable at best.

We won’t regurgitate the inaccurate, untested information found in most of the survival books. Instead you’ll experience winter firsthand and learn to stay alive and comfortable in the northern forest using practical skills and techniques we’ve been using and teaching for over two decades.

Topics of instruction include dressing for the elements, making, using, and living with fire, shelters applicable to the northern winter environment, safety, traveling on snowshoes, frostbite and hypothermia awareness and treatment, useful plants available in winter, and more.

The goal of the course is to increase confidence and ability in the frozen environment of the winter wilderness through passing on tested and proven methods.

The course is organized around the three aspects of dealing with a survival situation: what you need to know, what you need to do and what you need to carry with you.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completing of the course, students should understand:

• The Survival Equation and its implications
• Physiologic needs of the body
• Mechanisms of energy transfer
• What will kill you the fastest
• Survival plans and how they’re organized
• Taking action in the appropriate order
• The most important skills to master, in order of importance
• Gear to always have on your person
• Science of a survival shelter
• Survival stresses
• Survival psychology

Details

Participants will need their own sheath knife. We recommend the Mora Classic #2 from Ben’s Backwoods. For information on choosing a knife check out this blog post and video.

Who this course is for: This course is appropriate for adults and mature teens. It is not open to those younger than 16 years of age. Previous experience using an axe is desirable, but not required.
When: Course runs from 9 am to 4 pm, with a break for lunch. Bring a lunch.
Where: The Jack Mountain Bushcraft Folk School. 267 Camp School Road in Wolfeboro.
What to bring: Knife with a sturdy sheath, axe if you’ve got one, seasonally appropriate clothes, notebook and pen, lunch. Also bring any fire kit you’ve got, including match cases, lighters, ferro rods, bow drill kits, etc. If you don’t have any, no big deal. If the snow is deep you’ll need snowshoes. If you don’t have a pair, we have some for rent ($10).